Today, computers and their assorted peripherals are generally interconnected with a plurality of cables. In some instances, it may be that only one cable will fit in a particular computer slot and yet, in other cases, it may be possible for multiple cables to fit into a particular computer slot. To solve such problems, many computers and peripherals are being designed to use one communication scheme and therefore one cabling format. Universal Serial Bus is one such technology.
While such measures may become useful in the area of personal computers, large scale computing system implementations, such as server farms and server clusters, do not presently have the same luxury and are such a solution is not being considered. As such, large scale computing system implementations generally require many different cables of many different forms to interconnect many different computing components.
In addition to the task of connecting an appropriate cable to an appropriate port, the computing components used for large scale computing system implementations are often required to be connected in a predetermined topology. The results of cabling such complex computer installations out of order often include unexpected behavior of the system, system lock-ups as well as many additional otherwise avoidable problems. Miscabling in such large scale implementations, not to mention in the area of personal computers, can also result in numerous customer support and service issues.
Currently, the solution to cabling large scale computing systems has generally been to employ a trained cable installer. However, even when employing the services of a trained cable installer, detailed graphs, charts and instructions must still be followed to ensure both proper connections as well as the proper sequencing of connections. With the speed of technological advancement being what it is, whether or not a cable installer has up-to-date cabling instructions may be yet another concern during such an installation.